Welcome to Following the Whispers blog

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit. Hope you enjoy your stay. I blog here whenever I feel the need. This blog was created at the time my memoir came out, in February, 2009. Its motto was: creating a life of inner peace and self-acceptance from the depths of despair. Now, my focus is sharing this journey we call life.

“Only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth, and that is not speaking it.” Naomi Wolf

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs…(And) if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” Theodore Roosevelt

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Monday, September 14, 2009

Weekend Wrap up - Magical Moments

Last Friday my senior chorus, The Choralaires, performed at The Cottages, an assisted living facility for alzheimer and dementia patients. These residents are, for the most part, pretty out of it. If you look into their eyes, they're vacant. No one home anymore. It breaks my heart. Kris Kristoffersen wrote a beautiful song called "Hello in There" that speaks of this.

Sitting in the front row, I was about three or four feet from a man with empty eyes. As we sang, he stared into space, his oxygen tank hissing, his right arm partially raised--why, I don't know.We sang eight or nine songs, saving "Que Sera Sera" for last. When I glanced in his direction, I saw his lips mouthing the correct words to the song. With tears streaming down my cheeks, I sang for him. It was a magical moment. There is something about music that reaches those whose minds have gone somewhere else. Something that allows us to remember words to songs when we don't remember our own names or our familiy members names or where we lived or what we did.

My community service work is bringing music to those who can no longer get out to hear it. It doesn't matter if I forget the words, or don't sing completely on pitch for each and every note. That man mouthing along is what it's all about. Touching someone's heart, even if they can't let me know in the normal ways, that they've been touched. What a blessing and an honor it is to be able to do that. Here's to more magical moments in all our lives.

Karen

P.S. I was contacted by the following website and this is the result - Some of you will be surprised to find your names and books mentioned as well.

What a wonderful story. I know they appreciate you guys coming out to sing. Even if they can't show it or express it, I know they appreciate it. I used to work at a retirement home. Every little gesture is appreciated in some way.

I think music touches a chord that's buried really deeply in us. He might not have remembered a book he'd read or a movie he'd seen or a painting he knew.....but the music brought him back. That's amazing, Karen. Thanks for sharing the story.

Here's to those magical moments! And one of those is having Karen over at my blog today... Stop by and read a fabulous interview about her process of writing a memoir. I'm rarely online lately since I'm away at this writer's retreat, but wanted to stop by and say THANK YOU!

My children and I regularly visit a nearby nursing home. I have to remind them that their smiles and love touch the residents, even if the "grandmas and grandpas" don't remember them from the last visit. Those tiny moments of holding a hand, or sharing a song, can brighten the resident's days, even if they don't understand who we are or why we're there.

Following the Whispers

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NM Book Award Finalist

Wow! Following the Whispers was a finalist for 2009 NM Book Awards, a statewide competition

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Where to find Following the Whispers

"Following the Whispers" is available on Smashwords as an ebook: http://www.smashwords.com. It is now out of print on Amazon and other book retailers. I have copies available for sale. If you would like to purchase one, please leave a comment with your email address and I will get in touch regarding snail mail. The price is $7.99 including shipping.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Comparison is an act of vengeance against oneself

"The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare

our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel."

---Steven Furtick

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"Fill your paper with the breathing of your heart."

~William Wordsworth

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"I quote Martha Graham on making dance: "It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions." Graham goes on to write to her friend Agnes DeMille that it is only her business to keep it uniquely hers. She understood that our lives are as individual as snowflakes. That we must, if we are artists -- hell, if we are human beings -- be focused only on the work, and letting go. The work, and letting go."

Dani Shapiro

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“Success is a finished book, a stack of pages each of which is filled with words. If you reach that point, you have won a victory over yourself no less impressive than sailing single-handed around the world.